Taking the stress out of your child's annual celebrations!

Posts tagged ‘Noise pollution’

Have you ever considered the impact of acoustics when choosing where to have your party and how many people you intend to invite?

If you intend to have your party at a large venue, ie a church hall, do take into consideration the impact of the echoing acoustics because of the high ceilings and uncarpeted floors. The smallest noise is magnified and bounces around the cavernous space. Small children can and do get very intimidated by the high noise levels of a large church hall. It only takes one child scraping a chair across the floor to fill the space with cacophony. Remember as well that children fill whatever space they get, so give them a huge space and they will use it by running around, chasing and sliding. Space is exciting and begs to be taken advantage of. Entertainers often use up a fair bit of time ’rounding up’ children in large spaces. If that isn’t the sort of energetic experience you are looking for try finding smaller , carpeted spaces if at all possible, or cut down numbers and have the party at home. With small children, the atmosphere is everything.

If you are inviting, say 15 children, remember there could be up to 30 accompanying adults to factor in. Adults have BIG voices, especially combined with alcohol! I’m by no means trying to be a party pooper, there is a fine line between taking control of a situation and ruining an atmosphere. It can be very stressful as a host to find yourself shushing your guests. Try serving soft drinks and hot beverages instead if you don’t want to have to deal with the loss of inhibition ( volume control) that comes with alcohol.

You may be saying to me as you read this post: Well why doesn’t she just use amplification? Good question.

I’ve tried it and quickly discarded it.

All it does is increase the discomfort felt by the children. They just end up sitting with their hands over their ears. Amplified sound isn’t very child friendly. All that seems to happen is that the adults increase their volume to compensate and we are back to square one, but louder!

If the children at the party are at the age where they can be left, encourage the parents to drop them off. I’m sure many parent will relish the opportunity to have a bit of time to themselves. For children with separation issues, let the parent stay long enough for the child to settle ( it doesn’t take long in my experience) and then gently encourage them to go. A good entertainer should quickly establish a safe and trusting environment where children are happy to be left to have fun.

And finally, remember if you are going to provide children with party blowers and noise makers, expect NOISE! Be aware of the appropriate time to hand them out, it’s not ideal during showtime. On a similar note, if it is a pirate party and your child has a weapon as part of their costume, be prepared for armed combat when they get to the party! It’s unfair not to expect them to want to use them.